Shoulder guard



Sept. 21', 1926. l 1,600,410

- T. J. HARTMAN SHOULDER GUARD Filed Nov. 15, 1924 2 s`neevtssneetl2- M/fma' u y Y @Wwf/QW MMM i T/ifdlaf rif/aff?? Patented Sept. 21, 1926. i A* j. UNITED STAT THOMAS J. HARTMAN,

or CHICAGO, ILLINois.

SHOULDER GUARD.

Application led November 15, 1924. Serial No. 750,046. i

My invention relates to improvements in shoulder guards especially adapted for use Aby football players and has for'its object the provision of an improved construction of this character adapted and arranged to afford adequate protection to the player'and prevent injury to opponents.

.Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the combinations and Aarrangements of parts hereinafter defscribed and claimed.

The invention will bebest understood by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and 1n which,

Fig. 1 is a front view of a ing the invention,

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the same showing one of the shoulder joint caps elevated, Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section through one shoulder portion of the guard,

Fig. 4 is a view taken on line 4--4 of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detailed sectional view illustrating more in detail the outer padding of the guard member.

The preferred form of construction as illustrated in the drawings comprises an inner pad 6 in the form of a close-fitting jacket of felt adapted and arranged to fit over the shoulders and chest portion of the wearer and laced together at the front and rear and provided with suitable arm holes as shown.

Arranged over each shoulder portion of said jacket is a guard member 7 in the form of a strip of comparatively stiff material such as sole leather, said guard member being stitched to said jacket along its inner and end edges but free therefrom along its outer edge 8. The guard member 7 is provided on its outer surface with a padding in the form of narrow strips 9 of felt coiled thereon as shown and secured thereto by means of central lines of stitching 10. These central lines of stitching 10 are drawn comparatively tight so as to compress the felt strips along their central lines thus turning up the edges of said strips as best shown in Fig. 5 to present a comparatively soft and yielding pad to an opponent. Y

A shoulder cap 11 made of heavy felt and provided with an outer guard member 12 of sole leather is ilexibly'connected with the free edge of the guard member 7 by means of a strip of flexible webbing 13, the outer surface of the guard member 12 being also guard -embody-v a stituting a simple and effective one for the padded with the felt strips as shown. An y arm strap ,11'is secured to each ofthe joint caps to pass under the arms of the wearer.

A- gap guard'l consisting of a piece of sole leatheris securedtofthe jacket 6 under each Vgapbetween each vjoint cap and the cor'- responding shoulder 'guard member' by means of stitches 16 extending around the edges thereof as shown.l By' this arrangement a highly eflicient shoulder' guard is providedV whichalsofaords protectionv to opponents.

It will benotedthat byfsecuring the joint cap to the free edge of the shoulder guard ample flexibility is provided to permit of freedom of movement of the player, the speciiic formV and arrangement of the parts conl purpose vWhile I have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carrying my invention into effect, this is capable of variation and modification without departing from the spirit of the invention. I,

therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of such variations and modifications as come within the scope of the appended claims. i

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is zk 1. A shoulder guard comprising a pad of heavy flexible material adapted to rest on thek shoulders; a guard member of comparatively stiff material secured on top of said pad; and a padding consisting of strips of heavy flexible material secured vto said guardmember substantially along central lines of said strips and there compressed to turnfup the edges thereof, substantially as described.

2. A shoulder guard comprising a pad of heavy flexible material adapted to fit about the shoulders of the wearer; a guard member of comparatively still' material secured on top of each shoulder portion of said pad; a joint cap flexibly secured to said guard member and consisting of a pad of heavy exible material adapted to rest upon the "shoulder joint; a guard member of` comparatively stiff material securedv on top ofsaid cap; and a. padding consisting of strips of heavy flexible. material secured to the guard member on said cap substantially along central lines of said strips and there compressed to turn up the edges thereof, substantially as described.

3. A shoulder guard comprising a pad of heavy flexible material adapted to tit about the shoulders of the wearer; a guard member of comparatively stiff material secured on top of each shoulder portion of said pad; a joint cap iieXibly secured to said guard member and consisting of a pad of heavy flexible material adapted to rest upon the shoulder joint; a guard member of comparatively stiff material secured on top of said cap; a padding consisting of strips of heavy ilexible material secured to the guard member on s said cap substantially along central lines of said strips and there compressed to turn up the edges thereof; and a gap guard member consisting of a piece of comparatively stiff material secured to the top of said shoulder padding and extending'under the gap between said shoulder guard and V'said shoulder joint cap, substantially as described.

4. A shouldervguard comprising a pad ot heavy Vflexible material .adapted to rest on member being free at their edges but the shoulder; a guard member of compara tively stiff material secured on top of said pad along its inner edges but free at its outer edge; ashou'lder joint cap flexibly connected with the outer edge of said guard and a gap guard member of coniparatively still material secured on top of said shoulder padding and arranged under the gap between said guard and said cap, substantially as described.

5. An athletic guard comprising a body member; and strips of lieXible vpadding secured to the outer face thereof, said strips secured substantially along central 'longitudinal lines thereof and there compressed to turn .up vthe edges thereof, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

THOMAS J. HARTMAN. 

